The Bachelorette: Mental Health Masochism

Watching Ashley work through her emotional issues make this horrible show almost worth watching

Week after week I've watched Ashley Hebert on The Bachelorette fall straight into the black
hole of father issues like a shiny ball in a pinball machine. No matter how
much she tries to avoid it, she keeps plummeting into the same damn trap: the guy who treated her with profound and disgusting disrespect, Bentley
Williams.

Finally, after weeks of his name being said more times than
I could stomach, ABC flew Bentley half-way around the world for a vacation in
China and a five-minute conversation with Ashley. This finally led her to figure
out that he is a douche-bag among all douche-bags. Thank f'ing g-d. She said
goodbye to him for good, freeing herself from the guy who makes everyone's ex
look like a saint. I literally cheered out loud... yes, I am that girl.

I've been asked why I put myself through the agony of
watching this wretched show for two hours every Monday night. Apparently, I'm a
mental health masochist, because I can't seem to get enough. I really couldn't
care less about the sub-par romance going on, but from a
psychological perspective, saying goodbye to Bentley will hopefully make it
possible for the next layer of Ashley's issues to surface and be worked
through.

Initially she fell head over heals for Bentley, who just
like her father, left her while leaving the possibility of getting back together
open-ended. She's realized that she deserved clarity, which she received, but
unfortunately has now progressed to the next level: setting her sights on someone who simply won't reject her.

That clearly won't be Mickey, though I congratulate him for
walking off the show this week after finding out that Ashley is into guys like
Bentley, showing that even though he's on The
Bachelorette, he does, in fact, have some level of self-awareness and a fully
operating set of balls. But, I digress.

Without therapy, Ashley, along with every other
person in this world including the anti-Bachelorette-watching
public, will continue to look for love as a response to the way they themselves
were loved -- or not loved -- in the past, often by family. That's just the way it
works.

Though she mentions other qualities she's looking for in a
man, it's clear that Ashley's main goal is to find someone who won't leave her.
That's it. I want to jump through the
TV and hug this poor sweet self-loathing girl who needs support so desperately.
Sometimes, like a frat boy watching a football game, I fantasize that she just
might be able to hear my screams. Just
because someone doesn't reject you, it doesn't therefore mean they accept you! Run
Ashley, run!

The slippery slope between not being rejected and fully
being accepting can be tricky for a lot of people (including your friend who is
dating that asshole) to identify, and Ashley is navigating through it on ABC
primetime. I'm sure she's mortified, but she's now also rich, and according to Life & Style Magazine this week, happily
engaged - not to Bentley. So as it turns out, Ashley wins. Who knew?